Low-born infantryman Bruno Stachel becomes a pilot, almost deliberately stepping on the sensibilities of his aristocratic comrades in the process. By shooting down 20 enemy planes he in very short time he becomes a national hero, and receives the Blue Max, the highest award that can be bestowed upon an aviator. His fame is exploited by General Graf von Klugermann, who tolerates Stachel 's affair with von Klugermann's wife Gräfin Kaeti. The canny general knows that, eventually, Stachel will be expendable, and a "heroic" death can be arranged by assigning Stachel for a test flight in new plane.